FW:

---

From: waggy@telus.net
To: wanderingwallace@hotmail.com
Subject: FW:
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 2015 00:34:02 -0700

Hi

               This is an email I sent to :  Nanaimo City Council with cc to : premier@gov.bc.ca; michelle.stilwell.mla@leg.bc.ca; Minister.Transportation@gov.bc.ca; CSCD.Minister@gov.bc.ca; FLNR.minister@gov.bc.ca; lenonardkrog.mla@leg.bc.ca

I would encourage as many as possible people to view this email and modify to their own words. Then send it to the above people along with anyone else they think may want to fore ward it or should see it. With each email and each additional person of influence receiving, that shows the importance of our point of view. Remember 1 voice is hard to hear in a crowd but hundreds or thousands can not be silenced so easy.

Thank you

Terrence Wagstaff

Cc: premier@gov.bc.ca; michelle.stilwell.mla@leg.bc.ca; Minister.Transportation@gov.bc.ca; CSCD.Minister@gov.bc.ca; FLNR.minister@gov.bc.ca; lenonardkrog.mla@leg.bc.ca
Subject: Colliery Dam

 

I believe the City of Nanaimo should stand up for the taxpayers of Nanaimo and appeal the Dams department order. I also believe the City of Nanaimo should proceed as stated below. Common sense says the DSS? Nanaimo Staff plan is flawed in many , many ways! We have spent over $2.5 million tax dollars just to find the bases of this whole mess was incorrect in that the Dams will not collapse and kill 150 if we have an earth quake! Failing to justify spending tax dollars on that, they did not give up but went after more unproven "dangers" that common sense or any other type reasoning would tell you it will never happen.  When there is no record of over topping in over 100 years and now saying the spill rate is 1/3 the size it needs to be is so far out in space that it would be laughable if they were using their own money not tax dollars! Every time any work is done around or in the park we lose more park. The City Staff and Council need to show leadership and in this! We have a number of intersections in Nanaimo that both the City and the Province knows are causing accidents and deaths every week in Nanaimo. Why are you not as concerned about the real accidents and possible deaths right now, today instead of a once in 34,000 years event that will cost what $2 million dollars of property damage?Do what is right and consider the following:!

Council should take the following steps:

1. Instruct staff to file an appeal based on the following reasons:
a. That the Comptroller of Water Rights has neglected to acknowledge and consider important new developments and information including the fact that the previous Inundation Study which was the context and primary reason why the Dams were classified as an extreme safety hazard has since been contradicted by the new Golder analyses and reports.
b. That the dams have since been reclassified as Very High (Lower Dam) and High (Middle Dam) however this classification also will be reviewed by an independent process to confirm whether this classification is in fact overly conservative.
c. That if the spillways are indeed deficient, this condition would have existed since the dams were built over 100 years ago and there is no record of the dams ever overtopping. The City believes therefore that the urgency and schedule for completing the further diligence should be relaxed to reflect these facts.
d. That the remediation options that the Comptroller now is limiting the City to by this order may not be the best options since there is further due diligence that the City believes and intends to carry out before making a choice of remediation.
e. That the latest classification of the Lower Dam was deemed to be Very High however the City wants to carry out further study and analysis to confirm this conclusion since , amongst other things which particulars will be provided during the appeal process, it appears that the environmental consequences of any dam failure have not been assessed on an incremental basis.
f. That the City has been very responsible and diligent in its handling of this matter as evidenced by expenditures of some $2.5 million dollars on this matter to date, and thus far established previous DSS conclusions and suggested extreme solutions such as removal of the dams would have been unnecessary and resulted in a significant loss of a heritage structure in a much used Nanaimo park.
g. That the DSS personnel have acted in an unprofessional manner and may have failed to apply the required and expected degree of diligence in reviewing previous reports and as a result issued several letters to the City and even to a local newspaper claiming that up to 150 fatalities could result from the failure of the dams in an earthquake mode of failure and now have a conflict of interest in the outcome of this matter
2. Instruct staff to engage legal counsel to provide advice and to give an opinion on the feasibility of the City having grounds for a legal objection to the action taken by the Province such as an injunction or other action. In particular the City should instruct legal counsel to investigate the history of this issue to determine if possibly the Comptroller has acted in bad faith in its conduct and issuing of this order. If in the opinion of counsel the Comptroller has acted in bad faith that the City starts an action seeking damages for such bad faith conduct by the Province, the DSS, the Comptroller and other DSS personnel as per Section 90 of the Water Act.
3. Instruct staff to draft a letter to the Province for the Mayor's signature which letter will notify the Province that the City is complying with the order however it is doing so under protest and under duress and will continue to carry out further due diligence regarding the need to construct the remediation options dictated by the province and according to the schedule ordered by the province or at all. Should such further review, study and analyses determine that such action was unnecessarily ordered, that the City will be seeking compensation for any and all expenses and costs incurred by the City due to the Order being overly harsh, or unreasonable. Such letter to be copied to the Minister, the Premier, etc etc.
4. Appoint a select committee to inquire into the entire Colliery Dams matter including a detailed review of all engineering reports and expenses incurred. This committee should include Jim Kipp on behalf of Council, a retired judge or QC lawyer, appropriate members of the public and a qualified, (with more than 10 years practical experience in performing Dam Safety Reviews, designs, and remediation work) Engineer/Project Leader. Further terms of reference will be developed by the committee for approval of this council.